Paul Ryan Busted For Staged Photo-Op At Soup Kitchen Where He Pretended To Wash Dishes

The Romney campaign apparently spotted an opportunity to make VP
candidate Paul Ryan appear helpful and caring last week at a soup
kitchen in Youngstown, Ohio.

But the head of the charity wasn't happy about the campaign's
intrusion--or about a staged photo-op in the kitchen in which
Ryan "washed" some clean dishes. And after the VP candidate
left, the charity boss vented to the media.

The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney
campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s
Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential
candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken
washing dishes in the dining hall.

Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De
Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney
campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who
stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at
Youngstown State University.

“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the
majority of our funding is from private donations,”
Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s
strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there,
and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers
to open up the doors.”

He added: “The photo-op they
did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just
came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall...”

Upon entering the soup kitchen, Ryan, his wife and three young
children greeted and thanked several volunteers, then donned
white aprons and offered to clean some dishes. Photographers
snapped photos and TV cameras shot footage of Ryan and his
family washing pots and pans that did not appear to be
dirty.